No Exit
by Sparkling-Jules
Summary: Crimson is trapped and it's a race against time, and the machines, to save her.


_Greyness. Blurry shapes. Unfocused. Nothing visible. Almost blind. Just shapes. Moving shapes._

_A voice. A voice in the darkness. Calling out. Calling out into the dark. Calling for help. Calling but wordless. Incomprehensible._

_A sense of sadness. Desperation. So desperate. A felling of fear. Great fear. Terror. Helpless. Hopeless._

_Calling. Calling insistently. Can't hear words._

_Fear. Desperation. Help. Sadness. Terror. Help._

_Suddenly clear, the voice screams out._

"_Help me! Someone, please, help me..."_

Neo bolted awake, drenched in a cold sweat. He lay on his back breathing heavily, shaken by the nightmare.

"What is it?" asked Trinity as she rolled over, concern in her voice.

"Nothing," replied Neo, "just a dream."

"Sure you're OK?"

"Yeh, fine. Just a stupid nightmare."

He turned onto his side trying to get comfortable again. Trinity draped her arm over him and soon they were both asleep again.

They next awoke when the lights inside the hovercraft buzzed and flickered into life. They lay together, entwined under the rough blanket, longing for a few more precious moments in the warm comfort of the bed. It was no use trying to have a lie-in, there was work to do and if they were late Morpheus would get them up; he wasn't the type who knocked, not on his ship.

Reluctantly they got up and dressed, then headed for the mess for the traditional breakfast of protein gruel. Neo's dream had already faded, nearly forgotten at the back on his mind as he grabbed a bowl and filled it with goop. He and Trinity sat alone at the table, Morpheus never ate with them. Presumably he ate before or after them or maybe he just didn't eat at all. To Trinity the table always felt empty now, she missed the rest of the crew, the pain of their loss had not yet dulled and it sometimes felt as sharp as ever.

The calm quietness of the mess was rapidly becoming an uncomfortable silence when it was broken by Link sticking his head round the door.

"The boss wants you ready to jack-in in five, we're heading up to broadcast depth now." he informed them.

"Be right there," replied Neo, dropping his spoon into his half-filled bowl.

"'Kay." said Link, disappearing around the door again.

"The new questioner." stated Trinity simply.

"Another fun-filled day of watching," sighed Neo.

It wasn't that he didn't like observing those who could potentially be freed; there was a certain satisfaction in knowing that he had helped someone else find the truth. It just got a bit monotonous after a while and he wished for something a little more exciting, something slightly challenging. Little did he know that his wish was about to be answered.

There was a small jolt as they reached the main deck, signifying that the Nebuchadnezzar had safely touched down in a small sewer pipe just off the main tunnel. Link and Morpheus came down the ladder from the cockpit and they all began to boot up the many computers and monitors that would be needed to hack into the matrix.

Link slipped on his head set and a look of puzzled surprise spread across his face. He hit a few keys just to make sure he wasn't going crazy.

"Eh... we have an incoming call from **inside** the matrix." he said quite stunned.

Everyone dropped what they were doing and gathered behind Link.

"Put it on loudspeaker," commanded Morpheus.

Link hit a few more keys on his keyboard and answered the call.

"Operat..."

"Oh thank God! I thought I'd never get through to anyone!" The voice was female and she sounded panicky, almost on the edge of hysterics.

"Who are you?" asked Morpheus.

"My name's Crimson, I'm aboard the Starfire. Please you've got to help me! I can't get out!!!"

"Whoa, déjà vu," muttered Neo, his brow furrowed. Déjà vu was never a good feeling even if you weren't in the matrix.

"What?" whispered Trinity.

"My dream, the nightmare I had last night, it was her..."

"Try to stay calm, Crimson. I'm Morpheus, captain of the Nebuchadnezzar." His voice was as calm and steady as ever. "What do you mean, you can't get out?"

"My crews all dead, they just dropped dead in front of me! I can't raise anyone on my ship!" There was a hitch in her voice; she was crying. "I'm stuck inside the matrix and there's no-one to let me out! Please help me!!!" She broke down into sobs.

"Oh God," murmured Trinity. She knew what it like to see people, see your friends, die in front of you, but then to be stuck in the matrix too?! She didn't even dare trying to imagine what Crimson must be going through.

"I don't not what happened... I mean... it could have been squiddies... why am I the only one left, why only me?"

"Ok Crimson, I need you to listen to me, I need you to tell me the position of your ship and where you are inside. We're going to get you out Crimson."

She gave them the approximate coordinates of her ships location and the address of the abandoned building she was hiding in. It was in a run down part of town, not many people around; a good place to hide from agents.

"Good. I'm sending people in to look after you while we find your ship. Stay where you are and stay hidden. They'll be with you in less than ten minutes."

"Ok," replied Crimson, her voice stronger than it had been. She sounded slightly calmer now she knew help was on its way, but she was still edgy.

Morpheus signalled for Link to close the connection.

"She hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell." said Trinity immediately.

"We've got to try." countered Neo.

"It'll take at least ten hours for us to find the Starfire," said Morpheus, "I want you to protect her until then. Zion lost contact with the Starfire nearly two days ago so she's survived that long, I'm sure she can last until we find her."

He left no room for argument so Trinity and Neo obediently headed for their chairs, waiting to be jacked-in.

"I'm putting you in three blocks north of her," Link informed them, "Good luck."

He hit a button on the touch screen in front of him and the Neb faded away. There was a moment of familiar disorientation and they found themselves in a dingy apartment, the dusty phone in front of them ringing shrilly in the empty space. Neo picked up the receiver.

"We're in," he said, immediately replacing in on its cradle.

"Let's go," said Trinity heading for the door.

Crimson's hideout was a weathered building with a peeling sign that read 'Johnson Catering Supplies'. It was a three storey affair, the bottom two an empty warehouse space and the top floor housing the liquidated business's offices. All the windows and doors were securely boarded up; it was obvious that 'Mr Johnson' whoever he was had cleared out a long time ago.

Crimson heard the loose planks being pried off the emergency exit in the back of the warehouse beneath her and the thuds and creaks of feet on the stairs. She prayed that it was Morpheus' people, anyone else and she was as good as dead. Something nagged at the back of her mind, something significant about the Neb but she couldn't quite remember why it was so important.

She aimed her handgun at the door trying to hold it level but her tired and nervous arms were wobbling all over the place. She stood shaking as the footsteps came nearer and nearer until they were right outside the office she was in. A silhouette darkened the frosted glass of the door and it slowly creaked open. Crimson nearly dropped her gun in relief, for there stood a man and woman so obviously part of Morpheus' crew, dressed in the traditional black garb of the freedom fighters just as she was.

"Damn, I'm so glad to see you!" said Crimson as she lowered her gun. Unable to hold them in, tears of relief coursed down her cheeks.

"You Ok?" asked the woman as she stepped into the room.

"Yeh, now you're here." replied Crimson, wiping her face on the back of one grubby hand.

It suddenly dawned on her why the Neb was so significant; Neo, the One, and he was standing right in front of her.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, "you're Neo!"

"That's me," he said, with a small hint in his voice that betrayed his annoyance at constantly being recognised.

Crimson had seen him from afar in Zion but in the matrix he looked different somehow. He seemed bigger somehow, not really physically, although he did appear slightly taller, but he had an aura of confidence that he lacked in the real world.

"That's Trinity," he said motioning towards his partner. She was now standing at the grimy window surveying the street below. She had been Crimson's idol back in her hacker days and she had quite a reputation, but she was now overshadowed by Neo.

"We should go; I've got a bad feeling about this pace." said Trinity from by the window. She neglected to mention the black car she saw pulling up outside; the vehicle of choice for agents, but the tone of her voice betrayed her fears.

They exited the office and jogged down the stairs entering the alley at the back of the building. There was an almighty crash as the boards across the front entrance were kicked in and the trio broke into a run. They rounded a corner entering another alleyway in which was parked a large white van. Neo was first to reach it and leapt into the drivers seat, pulling wires from under the dashboard to hotwire the engine. Trinity yanked open the rear doors and jumped in, Crimson was lagging behind due to fatigue.

"Hurry!" shouted Trinity, extending her hand.

The slap of the agents' expensive leather shoes was drawing agonisingly closer. Any minute they would spill round the corner, guns blazing, and they would all be toast. The engine suddenly roared into life as Neo crossed the correct wires, Crimson grabbed Trinity's hand and all but fell into the back of the van.

"Go!" Trinity shouted, pulling the doors shut behind her as Neo floored the throttle, the van shooting out into the road. The agents rounded the corner too late, not even catching the barest glimpse of the van as it pulled away.

"Fuck!" gasped Crimson, collapsing against the side of the van and sinking to the floor, out of breath and panting.

Trinity looked at her in deep sympathy. Now she'd had a good look she could see that Crimson was in a bad way. Her eyes were red and bloodshot from over two days with no sleep. She was struggling to catch her breath even after such a relatively short run. These were both signs that her body and mind were beginning to tire. Trinity sat beside Crimson and put her arm around her. She could fell her shaking with exhaustion and fear. Crimson was young, barely out of her teens. This shouldn't be happening to her, thought Trinity.

"You Ok?" she asked again.

"No," replied Crimson quietly, tears welling in her already red eyes. "I just... I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe they're all dead!"

Heavy tears dropped from her eyes and Trinity held her in a big sisterly way, comforting her. She wanted to tell her that everything would be alright in the end, that everything would work out fine, but in reality she wasn't entirely sure herself that it would.

"You should get some rest," said Trinity removing her jacket and folding it into a makeshift pillow. "Try to sleep."

Crimson obeyed, resting her head on the jacket. She almost immediately dropped off. Trinity waited a while before she went to join Neo up front.

* * *

This fic has been in the unfinished state for ages so don't hold your breath for a conclusion. (Although persistant email nagging might help)


End file.
